Car goes through Quart of oil a week

[D22]

There is a car I am looking at that is in good condition except it "goes through a quart of oil a week". Does this mean the car will inevitably continue to lose oil at a faster rate? How likely is this a problem that can be fixed?

It is a 91' Acura Legend at a price over 500 below edmunds private party (probably could knock it to 750-1000 under), wanting to know if it is worth it

 

[compuwiz1]

Did you look at the space it was parked in?

ALSO, how could you be interested in such a POS?

Do not become another Edmunds dweeb, please!

 

[leftyman]

whats a dweeb?

 

[compuwiz1]

Originally posted by: leftyman
whats a dweeb?

This is actually an acronym for the phrase "dick with eyebrows," you dummmies. You are calling someone a walking penis.

You are all dweebs because you did not know the origins of the word you thought you were defining.

I'm not going to hot link this, but urban dictionary is your friend. Go google it.

 

[angminas]

A car that uses that much oil may last years or days. I've had two Toyota Tercels that used about that much and lasted me years. It depends a lot on whether it's mostly leaking it (not too bad) or mostly burning it (too bad).

 

[Colt45]

A quart of oil a week doesn't sound like good condition to me, it sound neglected.
Depends if its burning it or leaking.. or both. It can be fixed, but if you're useless with cars its going to cost.


Knock $1000 off the price? Isn't that all a '91 legend is worth in the first place?

 

[jupiter57]

A quart of oil a week:
If using that quart while driving less than 500 mi. wk., I would be concerned, the less miles per quart, the more concern.
However, if it uses a quart while driving over 500 mi. wk., that is pretty much normal in todays cars, though not typical by any means, but if you read your Owners Manual, it will tell you to expect (some) oil consumption.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: jupiter57
A quart of oil a week:
If using that quart while driving less than 500 mi. wk., I would be concerned, the less miles per quart, the more concern.
However, if it uses a quart while driving over 500 mi. wk., that is pretty much normal in todays cars, though not typical by any means, but if you read your Owners Manual, it will tell you to expect (some) oil consumption.

That's not typical, IMHO. That's 6 quarts every 3,000 mile oil change.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Front/rear seals are probably shot and causing it to lose oil. This is not normal. If it was, all cars would leak like this. I'd stay away from it.

 

[j00fek]

i would not buy this car.; i had a 92 accord with about the same problems with it. the main reason why it goes through that much oil is probably because the valve seals are wasted. high mileage cars have this problem. they are rubber seals that wear and crack with high mileage. i had 278K on that accord when i got rid of it and i have to put 1-2QT of oil in it/week.

another thing to look at with this problem would be the rings on the cyliner as sonny said. they are probibly worn and need to be changed. if you can do it its not that hard with the garage and tools. but most people dont have this.

 

[theknight571]

My dad had a car that was going through oil like that once.

He was to cheap to get it fixed, since they wanted some big $$ to fix it.

One day while driving home from work on the freeway... the engine seized... no oil... oops. lol

Ended up putting a new engine in it.

Personally, unless I knew it was a leak I could fix cheap... I'd avoid the car.

 

[0roo0roo]

91 is too young to be going through oil like that, let alone an acura.
unless its a truely insane price theres no way you should buy that.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

i wouldnt even think about it

 

[olds]

Depends on if the oil is being burned out or is leaking out.
Burned, stay away.
Leaking, can you fix it.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
91 is too young to be going through oil like that, let alone an acura.
unless its a truely insane price theres no way you should buy that.

Well if it's driven 12K miles a year that's 192K miles! it's prime time for
valve stem seals and or rear main seal to start going bad. A well built
car for sure but nothing lasts forever.

 

[jemcam]

a quart of oil a week all depends on how much it is driven each week. If 1000+ miles per week, I wouldn't be concerned. If it's 250 miles per week, I'd run the other way.

Is there blue smoke coming out of the exhaust when it's started? Any smoke out of the exhaust? Is there oil smoke or vapor coming from the crankcase breather?

 

[JulesMaximus]

A quart of oil a week is excessive. Is it burning oil or is it leaking out through an engine seal? Either way, it could cost more to fix than the car is worth.

I'd pass on it.

 

[jemcam]

A quick compression check should tell you where the problem is. If the compression is low, it needs rings and is not worth fixing IMHO. If the compression is good, it's probably valve stem seals and that is not a major operation requiring engine removal and that's worth putting the money into it if the car is good otherwise.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: jupiter57
A quart of oil a week:
If using that quart while driving less than 500 mi. wk., I would be concerned, the less miles per quart, the more concern.
However, if it uses a quart while driving over 500 mi. wk., that is pretty much normal in todays cars, though not typical by any means, but if you read your Owners Manual, it will tell you to expect (some) oil consumption.

The MINIMUM "acceptable" (read: it would cost more to fix than to just keep adding oil) rate is 1 quart/1,000 miles. I've never had a car that consumed more than 0.25 quarts in 3,000 miles (0.083 quarts/1,000 miles).

No car in decent condition should use a quart a week. It shouldn't even use a quart a month.

ZV